If you're in the mood for some Hallowe'en reading, there's a new anthology of horror classics from Mike Baker and Martin H. Greenberg. Or if you'd rather look to the future, try the new Writers of the Future collection or the latest SFF Net Darkfire anthology. In addition, the past few weeks have brought us new titles from Peter S. Beagle, Gregory Benford, Anne Bishop, Terry Brooks, Chris Bunch, Kate Elliott, Simon R. Green, James Lovegrove, Lois Lowry, Jane Yolen and many others.

Books are listed alphabetically by author. Only books
received are noted. Where available, links to SF Site reviews and book
excerpts are provided.

New Arrivals:
1 - 15 October 2000 Part I

Koeveks

My Favorite Horror Storyedited by Mike Baker and Martin H. GreenbergDAW Horror (mass market original, 320 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can)
Publication date: October 2000
Ok, these anthologies are a great idea; simple, yet brilliant. We've seen My Favorite Science Fiction Story and My Favorite Fantasy Story and this time Greenberg brings us the preferred horror stories of some of the biggest names currently writing in the genre. Each writer chooses a story and prefaces it with a brief explanation of why that particular story. The choosers in this volume include Stephen King, F. Paul Wilson, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, Joe R. Lansdale, Poppy Z. Brite, Joyce Carol Oates, Harlan Ellison and more. The chosen include Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe and others -- some well-loved classics and some more obscure chillers, for a well-rounded collection.

Yvonne Gilbert

A Dance for EmiliaPeter S. BeagleRoc (hardcover, 87 pages, $14.95 US/$20.99 Can)
Publication date: 10 October 2000
From the award-winning author of The Last Unicorn, The Inkeeper's Song, Giant Bones and Tamsin. "Sam and Jacob were best friends, ever since high school. Their lives took different paths, but they remained close... until the day Sam died, unexpectedly. Jacob grieved until he discovered that his grief had called his friend back... in the body of a cat! Now, it's time for Jacob to learn how to let the past go. Because if he can't, he'll be damning his friend to an existence of frustration and mouse-breath, as his memories of what it meant to be human slowly fade..."

The Face in the FrostJohn BellairsOlmstead Press (hardcover, 176 pages, $14.95 US)
Publication date: 29 September 2000
First published in 1969 and out of print for more than a decade, this fantasy classic is now available once again. "The Face in the Frost follows the story of two wizards, Prospero and his sidekick Roger Bacon, who are fighting a powerful, third sorcerer who has acquired a book of evil spells. In the course of their quest, Prospero and Roger Bacon travel to enchanted kingdoms, fight numerous evil-doers, and confront hideous creatures. Hailed by critics as an extraordinary work combining the thrills of a horror novel with the inventiveness of fantasy, The Face in the Frost launched John Bellairs' reputation as one of the most influential voices in young adult fiction."

Worlds Vast and VariousGregory BenfordEos, HarperCollins (trade, 320 pages, $13.50 US/$20.95 Can)
Publication date: October 2000
A new collection of short fiction from the author of Cosm, Eater and Timescape. "A physicist as well as a writer, Gregory Benford draws from his own research to craft his critically acclaimed tales. This long-awaited third collection of stories, all but one of which have never been published in book form, features the hallmarks of Benford's much-lauded style: taut, suspenseful, character-driven plots based on real-life science, and stories that are all the more thrilling because they could very well come true."
Review by Marc Goldstein.

Matthew Innis

The Invisible RingAnne BishopRoc Fantasy (mass market original, 400 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can)
Publication date: October 2000
This novel, a prequel to her Black Jewels trilogy, follows Jared, a youthful Red-Jeweled Warlord who murders his owner-queen and escapes, only to be caught and auctioned off into slavery again. A formidable Gray-Jeweled Queen shows up at the last minute and purchases him, ostensibly to add to her stable of idiosyncratically selected slaves -- but Jared's new mistress and her entourage are not what they seem. Their true nature is gradually revealed on the way home as forces attack the group, forcing them to take a desperate trip cross-country.

Steve Stone

Isle Witch: Book One of The Voyage of the Jerle ShannaraTerry BrooksDel Rey (hardcover, 455 pages, $26.95 US/$39.95 Can)
Publication date: September 2000
First volume in a new series from bestselling author of the fantasy epic The Sword of Shannara. "When the mutilated body of a half-drowned elf is found floating in the seas of the Blue Divide, an old mystery resurfaces. Thirty years ago, the elven prince Kael Elessedil -- brother to the current king -- led an expedition in search of a legendary magic said to be more ancient, more powerful, than any in the world. Of all those who set out on that ill-fated voyage, not one ever returned... Until now."

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume XVIedited by Algis BudrysBridge (mass market original, 512 pages, $7.99 US/$11.99 Can)
Publication date: 2000
Every year, the best stories from the international Writers of the Future Program are collected and presented by Bridge Publications. The 16th annual volume also includes essays by L. Ron Hubbard, Michael H. Payne, Judith Holman and Algis Budrys. You may not recognize the names of the other contributors -- yet. But past Writers of the Future have included Leonard Carpenter, Karen Joy Fowler, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Dean Wesley Smith, David Zindell -- and that was just the first volume. Don't miss out on tomorrow's rising stars.

L. Ron Hubbard Presents The Best Writers of the Futureedited by Algis BudrysBridge (trade, 432 pages, $14.95 US/$22.95 Can)
Publication date: 2000
You gotta figure you can't go too far wrong with a best of 'the best of' collection. For the first time ever, 16 tales from the first 8 volumes of the Writers of the Future anthologies are packaged together. Here are some names you should know by now, which at the time were new and relatively unknown, including James Alan Gardner, Karen Joy Fowler, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Robert Reed, Dean Wesley Smith, Dave Wolverton, and more. In addition, this volume includes stories from Anne McCaffrey, Frederik Pohl and Tim Powers, some of the judges of the Writers of the Future Contest -- stories that maybe they would have entered in the contest if they had had the chance.

Bob Warner

Storm Force: Book Three of The Last LegionChris BunchRoc Science Fiction (mass market original, 345 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can)
Publication date: 10 October 2000
Sequel to The Last Legion and Firemask. "On the outer fringes of civilization, a lone military force must rebuild its ranks in order to keep the peace in a volatile star system. With no incoming communications from the Confederation Empire to guide them, it's up to the brave men and women of the Legion to stop a tyrant from spreading his rule..."
Review by Todd Richmond of The Last Legion: Book One.

The Brazen RuleSteven BurgauerWriter's Showcase, iUniverse.com (trade, 368 pages, $18.95 US/$30.95 Can)
Publication date: August 2000
First published in 1995 by Burgauer's own zero-g press and available now from iUniverse.com.
"A killer virus on the loose. A small town threatened. A nation on the brink of war. It's the year 2342. The President has been assassinated and a viral holocaust is about to be unleashed against the United States of America. The only thing that stands between salvation and certain annihilation is General Felix 'Flix' Wenger, war hero and former pyrotech specialist. Now, join Flix as he races against time to protect the American way of life."

MindplayersPat CadiganVictor Gollancz SF Collectors' Edition (trade, 276 pages, £9.99 UK)
Publication date: 28 September 2000Mindplayers (1987) was Cadigan's first novel. It had the Cyberpunk label slapped onto it pretty quickly, but it's a novel that probably shouldn't be so easily categorized; it's more than just what the label suggests. "Allie Haas only did it for a dare -- the kind of dare you know is a mistake but you do it anyway. But putting on the madcap that Jerry Wirerammer has 'borrowed' was a very big mistake. The psychosis itself was quite conventional, a few paranoid delusions, but it didn't go away when she took the madcap off. Jerry did the decent thing and left her at an emergency room for dry-cleaning but then the Brain Police took over. Straightened out by a professional mindplayer, Allie thinks she's left mind games behind for good but then comes the fazer: she can either go to jail as a mind criminal or she can train to be a mindplayer herself."

Amy Sterling Casil

Without AbsolutionAmy Sterling CasilWildside Press (trade, 181 pages, $15 US/$18 Can)
Publication date: August 2000
Although this is her first collection, if you've kept your ears tuned in to what's new in short fiction over the past few years, this probably isn't the first time you've heard the name Amy Sterling Casil. She's a frequent writer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as well as a four-time finalist and one-time winner in the Writers of the Future Contest. "What if: Not so long from now, outlaw body artists could make you look any way you wanted... A new disease causes birth defects unlike any the world has ever seen, and your job is to take care of these kids, including a boy with 3 eyes... A father clones himself for companionship, only to learn he is dying of cancer and his cloned son is the perfect donor... A lonely man uploads the personalities of his mother and his ex-wife into his computer, and they merge into a single, horrifying 'motherwife'..." [Kids, don't try this at home!]

Paper Bodies: A Margaret Cavendish Readeredited by Sylvia Bowerbank & Sara MendelsonBroadview Press (trade, 332 pages, $12.95 US/$15.95 Can/£8.95 UK)
Publication date: January 2000
For most readers of SF, when we think of the "roots" of SF, we tend to limit our view to no earlier than the first half of the 19th century. However, you could trace the writing of speculative fiction all the way back to Homer. And in between, the odds are good that you'd gloss over much of 17th century English literature. But then, you'd be missing out on Margaret Cavendish, "one of the most subversive and entertaining writers of the 17th century. She invented new genres, challenged gender roles, and critiqued the new science as well as the mores of society... There are connections here to Cavendish's most famous work, The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World (1666), a unique tale of a woman travelling through the north pole to a strange new world." This volume also includes Cavendish's brief autobiography, a play and selections from her poetry and critical writings, as well as some background documents from other 17th century writers to put it all into perspective for you.

Stephen Youll

PrecursorC.J. CherryhDAW Science Fiction (mass market reprint, 450 pages, $6.99 US/$9.99 Can)
Publication date: 10 October 2000
Sequel to the Foreigner trilogy, consisting of Foreigner, Invader and Inheritor. "Over 3 years have passed since the reappearance of the starship Phoenix -- the same ship which two centuries before left an isolated colony of humans to fend for themselves on the world of the volatile atevi. Since that time, humans have lived in exile on the island of Mospheira, using a single diplomat, the paidhi, to trade advanced technology for the continued peace and safety of its people. But the unexpected return of the Phoenix has shattered forever the fragile, carefully maintained political balance of these two nearly incompatible races. For the captains of the Phoenix offer the atevi something the Mospheiran humans never could -- access to the stars." The next two books in this second Foreigner trilogy, Defender and Explorer, are forthcoming from DAW.

Cliff Nielsen

Odder Than EverBruce CovilleHarcourt Children's Books (mass market reprint, 176 pages, $6 US/$9 Can)
Publication date: October 2000
This is a reprint of the 1999 collection of 9 short stories from renowned YA author, Bruce Coville. "A ghost who died under uproarious circumstances haunts a kitchen baking 'Biscuits of Glory,' while in the grand tale 'The Golden Sail,' a teen finds a treasure he didn't know he was seeking. There is a heartbreaking new story from Mr. Elives' Magic Ship, 'The Metamorphosis of Justin Jones,' and the bittersweet title story from the critically acclaimed anthology Am I Blue? In all, 9 wildly strange, wonderful tales are gathered here, each odder than its fellows, and each as moving as it is funny."

Ninth Day of CreationLeonard CraneConnection Books (trade, 662 pages, $23.95 US)
Publication date: June 2000
First novel from Leonard Crane, a trained physicist with a doctorate in quantum optics and a healthy interest in the Human Genome Project. This epic techno-thriller brings together cutting-edge genomic technology and a natural disaster. "Through a collusion of coincidence, shared technology, and a string of military crises triggered by one government's attempt to hang on to power at any cost, three nations will spiral toward an unforgettable climax. As the story opens, an ecological catastrophe has changed the face of Northern China. The world's most populous nation is teetering on the brink of collapse. With its fate seemingly upon it, Beijing contemplates the U.S. with stony apprehension -- and hatches a startling plan of action to guarantee its own survival..."

Bob Eggleton

Beluthahatchie and Other StoriesAndy DuncanGolden Gryphon Press (hardcover, 288 pages, $23.95 US)
Publication date: October 2000
Andy Duncan is a name that ought to be familiar to aficionados of short SF. Two of the tales in this collection are published for the first time, but many of the others saw previous publication in Asimov's, Weird Tales, Realms of Fantasy, HarperPrism's Dying For It and others. "The title story spins the tale of a guitarist who refuses to disembark the train at Hell and his adventures at the next stop, Beluthahatchie. Other stories include plot lines about the career concerns of a member of 'The Executioner's Guild' and graveyard romances in 'The Premature Burials.' These science fiction and speculative stories are told with a flair for Southern patois and are followed by comprehensive author's notes." Introduction by Michael Bishop and Afterword by John Kessel.

Duncan Long

The Age of Wonders: Tales from the Near Future (Volume III in the Darkfire Series)edited by Jeffry DwightSFF Net (trade, 330 pages, $14.95 US)
Publication date: August 2000
Third in the Darkfire series from SFF Net; the first was Between the Darkness and the Fire: Tales of Imaginative Fiction from the Internet, and the second was The Age of Reason: Stories for a New Millennium. This volume boasts 21 original stories from "some of the brightest writers of a new generation" including William Sanders, Linda J. Dunn, Dave Smeds, Brian Plante, Mary Soon Lee, and more. It also features an introduction by David Brin.
Review by Lisa DuMond of Between the Darkness and the Fire.

Jody Lee

Child of Flame: Volume Four of Crown of StarsKate ElliottDAW Fantasy (hardcover, 850 pages, $24.95 US/$34.95 Can)
Publication date: October 2000
Sequel to King's Dragon, Vol. 1, Prince of Dogs, Vol. 2, and The Burning Stone, Vol. 3. The latest addition to this epic series "takes us far beyond the borders of the war-torn kingdoms of Wendar and Varre as Alain, Leath, Sanglant, and King Henry are cast onto different pathways -- perilous, twisting roads which will nevertheless lead them all to one fated moment in time... And as the tides of war and magic wreak havoc across the lands, the great Cataclysm, long foretold in the stars, draws inexorably closer..."